THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Patriots Knocked Out By Defending State Champs

The greatest season for the Goodman-Pembine Patriots (19-5) co-op girls basketball team came up one game short of the WIAA state tournament following a 58-34 championship game loss to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption (25-2) in the Division 5 sectional at DC Everest Saturday. Fullcourt pressure did the Patriots in as the defending champions created havoc from start to forcing 30 turnovers to earn a return trip to state.

That run and jump press, they have that down to a science. We worked on it, but it didnt work out for us, obviously, coach Dennis Bilski said of the title game loss.

Assumption will take on Heritage Christian on Thursday afternoon at the Resch Center in Green Bay with tip-off set for 1:35pm.

The results were a lot better in the semifinals as the Patriots rode a double-double performance from the inside duo of seniors Courtney Goyak and Rachel Stankevich to a 41-29 victory over NEW Lutheran. Goyak battered the NEW defense for 23 points and 20 rebounds while Stankevich added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Patriots Take Care

Of NEW In Semis

Sparked by another superb paint performance from their seniors Courtney Goyak and Rachel Stankevich, the Patriots held off NEW Lutheran Thursday night at Oconto Falls 41-29 in the sectional semifinals.

Goyak poured in 13 of the Patriots 17 points in period one then added 7 more points over the final 8 minutes for her 23 point total. Stankevich was equally as impressive with her ball handling and poise against fullcourt pressure, assists to Goyak along with 6 key points in the second half.

Goodman-Pembine couldnt have asked for a better start, opening the game on a 9-0 run. Stankevich got things rolling with a 10-footer then watched Britney Stepien connect before Goyak grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds and added a free throw for that 9-0 edge at the 3:39 mark.

After NEW finally got on the board via a free throw from Maddie Sabel, Goyak tacked on three more buckets from point blank range for a 17-9 lead at the first break. A pair of steals were turned into layups by Keifer Zimmerman to keep NEW within striking distance.

Continuing to pressure the Patriots into turnovers, NEW unloaded a 9-3 second period surge to cut the deficit to 20-17 at halftime. A layup by Stankevich pushed the lead to 19-11 (5:58) before NEW saw Zimmerman can a pair of jumpers and add a free throw for a 19-16 score with 2:18 remaining. Both teams struggled for points the rest of the period as Goyak hit the front end of a free throw for a 20-16 score (2:08) while Sabel did the same for the Blazers with 54 ticks left.

The see-saw affair continued in period three before the Patriots closed out the frame on a 6-0 run. NEW tied the score at 21-all on a basket by Sadie Nier and went ahead 22-21 when Zimmerman tallied a free throw at the 3:38 mark.

But the Patriots didnt stumble. Instead coach Bilski saw Stankevich tally a pair of shots for a 25-21 lead with 1:19 left while Goyak worked inside for another basket and a 27-22 edge (0:30).

NEW did manage to close the gap to 3 points when Nier scored with 13 seconds left.

The Patriots saw their lead dwindle to 27-26 when Zimmerman connected at the 6:13 mark, but didnt panic. Getting the ball inside, Goodman-Pembine fed Goyak strike for six straight points on two free throws and a pair of buckets, while Stankevich added a baseline runner to restore the lead to 35-26 with 2:50 remaining.

Free throws enabled the Patriots to wrap up the win as Stankevich went 2-4 from the charity stripe while Claire and Courtney Goyak were 1-2 each. Kayleigh Betka snuck through for a layup with 32 ticks remaining for that 41-29 final score.

Zimmerman finished with 19 points for NEW, 16 of those coming in the first half.

Press Problems Result

In 58-34 Patriot Loss

Running into defending state champion Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Saturday, the Patriots fell behind 16-4 at the first break and never recovered in suffering a 58-34 sectional final setback.

How tough was the press? Thirty turnovers tells the whole story. Fifteen of those miscues came in the opening 16 minutes of play.

The Patriots did own a 2-0 lead midway through the opening frame behind a bucket by Claire Goyak. After that it was all Assumption. The winners closed out the quarter on a 16-2 run as sophomore Macie Zurfluh scored 12 points.

The deficit grew to 21-4 early in period two before the Patriots unloaded a 10-1 run of their own. Marissa Moloney found the mark for a jumper while Courtney Goyak added a pair of buckets for a 26-14 halftime deficit.

The score went from bad to worse in the third period as Assumption let loose with a 17-8 barrage to build up a comfortable 43-22 cushion.

Over the final 8 minutes, Assumption tacked on a 15-12 edge to seal the lopsided win.

Assumption just kept coming at us...playing seven, eight, nine and ten players with little dropoff. Theyre a great team, Bilski said. I was proud of our girls for not giving up, even when things were tough and playing hard to the last horn.